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Those European river cruises are supposedly stupefyingly expensive. Maybe enjoyable and worth it for some but they seem to target well-off people.

Episode 3. Franck the psycho father is pissed that the foster parents got to meet with France president Sarkozy, including a visit to Paris. He can't believe that a convicted rapist like himself can't be seen publicly with the president! His daughter is missing, likely killed, but he's angry that he's not getting all the media attention and sympathy. This piece of shit was also hitting the girls when they were like 8 years old, which led to them being taken from him and put in the foster home. Yet he's complaining years later how they were taken from him and pointing out that Laetitia still ended up being murdered. What a rough upbringing for Meilhon but it turns out he has a history of brutalizing women. So they see him in a parking log surveillance video around the time of Laetitia's disappearance, where Meilhon tries to rope someone else into helping him get rid of the body, which he's already cut up into pieces! So not a lot of mystery left about what happened, other than trying to recover all of Laetitia's remains, but looks like in the remaining episodes they will expand upon the back story, more horrific scenes to come.

That Italian 3-course dinner looked good but portions seemed small Mat said he cooked the Bolognaise sauce for 3 hours. I think if he had to cook specific dishes and plate for the picnic and then produce a 3-course meal for dinner, it would be a lot to handle. First of all, I don't know if they could do individual dishes for the picnic because of the logistics of taking the food out on the tender and then hiking it up the hill. But even if they had a regular lunch, it would be a lot of work for one person. He'd need help to do the meal prep, maybe sous chefs. One reason season, the chef had to make like 70 dishes because there were like 7 or more courses for one meal. That chef got help from the deck crew, laying out and prepping the dozens of little dishes and bowls. I think they deliberately understaff the crew to stress them, cause more potential drama Courtney said that she's only worked on 60-meter or greater yachts and they usually had way larger crews. This yacht is 55-meters so not that much smaller and they're typically having 6-12 guests it appears.

Ranking of the least to most awful characters, Quinn is least awful, Shane is most awful, everyone else in between. https://apple.news/Aqx2pDIycR4-lY-dJ9iRdiw I don’t agree that Paula is much less awful than Olivia. Writer is saying Olivia is worse because she’s richer than Paula. But Olivia didn’t talk Kai into committing a crime, wrecking the kid’s life.

It’s not in the scripts for this season?

They had to replace Lexi drama with Sandy drama. Both women cooled down fast enough so probably hyped. For instance, did Sandy curse out Malia on one take or did they do multiple takes? It does look like Katie bit off more than she could handle, with Malia complaining. Courtney may have said she was tired several times but she suggested that the two of them could do the last couple of charters. They'll probably be okay when they have one less crew member to split the tips. Of course they'd have a picnic on the top of a little island when they're undermanned. Not just two stews but David hobbled. But that did look like a very special setting. Then it was the needy Mat, having to please Sandy. He was annoying Katie, constantly asking how they liked his dishes. More parking drama to end the episode on a cliffhanger. I'm sure the docking went off without incident.

It makes sense that she would have an affair or be tempted to. She agreed to have the abortion because she didn't want to be trapped in the marriage longer. But why after 10 years? Did that interview force her to examine if the marriage was "successful" or she wanted to be in the marriage longer? Did the conversation with Kate, who said that her affairs made her happier and that she wanted to "model" her always seeking passion, by seeking other partners, for her daughter influence Mira's thinking? The fact that she confided in the open marriage couple, or at least Kate, may suggest she was influenced or at least became open to the idea that she might be happier with another partner. According to her telling, Poli pursued her, she didn't seek it out, but she didn't reject it either. First she says she's in love with someone else and Jonathan has to prompt her to say that she wanted to continue with her affair. He asked why is she telling him now and she doesn't say outright that she wants to leave him. But then he asked more questions and what do you know, she wants to go off to Israel with her lover the very next day. Do married people divorce when they no longer love their spouse or do they push for divorce after they've found another partner that they think they want to be with? With the relatively high rate of divorce, it would seem there are a lot of loveless marriages, where for some period of time, one or both spouse know they're not happy as they used to be or want to be, yet they remain in the marriage -- for money reasons, children, etc. But being unhappy or not feeling passion for the spouse is not enough of a trigger for people to end marriages, it's only when they think they've found passion or the potential for happiness with another partner that seems to precipitate separations and eventually divorce. So according to Mira, she endured a period of feeling suffocated, wanting to flee. They enacted that when he was trying to hug her and she wriggled out of the hug to run out the door. For all we know, she might have been unfaithful with others before Poli. To dramatize all this, they had to show this long conversation, or Jon trying to get answers and Mira being evasive but letting more and more spill out. Still, it seemed odd that they'd sleep in the same bedroom that night, with him trying to get more answers and convincing her not to go on her trip while she was rejecting his asks, saying she was leaving no matter what. They have a scene of them brushing their teeth together, just as in the first episode, though obviously much different. Mira barely brushes her teeth, spits, leaves so she doesn't have to be next to him, both of them images in the mirror. Jonathan finally turns off the lights, turns away from her to sleep on his side and then she cuddles him. Mercy cuddle? They wake up holding hands and then immediately she runs into the bathroom to shower. Jon doesn't pursue the marks on her back, which he noticed the previous night. Mira hurriedly stuffs clothes into a big suitcase, including the hangers. In her mad rush, she can't close the suitcase so he packs for her. She's in a rush to leave the house, literally runs out the door without speaking to Ava. They're probably not going to have Mira be the villain throughout the series, probably going to cast her in a more positive light later on. Or at least not have her appear to be abandoning her daughter and denying that her leaving will damage her daughter be the only impression of the character. Otherwise, what are the remaining 3 episodes going to show?

Why would Billions viewers want to see a “homage” or copycat scene from a relatively obscure movie? How does that movie or the characters there relate to Billions? It is such a contrast to Billions, which is dialog-heavy, with lines full of pop cultural references. Oh is the scene suppose to be a visual reference? In any event, it wasn’t interesting to see Giamatti make eggs. When he flipped it it splattered so he’s not some wiz in the kitchen. Have they ever shown him cooking before? Or Wendy for that matter when they lived together? He had cooks and servers when he had that little dinner the night before. So why show him cooking now? BTW this reminds me, Wendy doesn’t seem to care about seeing the kids. She left him with Chuck, who can make them eggs. She lives in a spacious apartment and has millions. To be fair kids have been mostly afterthoughts or props on the show. The main characters are parents but it seems they all prioritize their work over their families or parenting. They tried to have Bobby depicted as a dedicated parent early on but he let them go with Lara, only to have a recent episode where Axe goes to bully the teachers or headmaster at his son’s private school. Bobby and Wendy are now unencumbered by kids from banging.

Sure but if she said "I need $25 million or else Chuck is going to get a look at Mason Carbon and Axe Capital's books." Or she could have also said "I need $25 million to make Chuck go away forever and out of my life and I'm free to be yours." $25 million is suppose to be nothing to Chuck and we're suppose to believe he's got all that marijuana money coming.

Wendy walks in masked and then takes it off? Only on TV. Wags and Wendy maskless, everyone else had to wear masks. Everyone else being lower on the org chart. At some point they just dropped the pretense because they didn't want their actors masked. I forget why Axe wanted the bank so bad. He's suppose to be wildly successful, he can decide to give Wendy $25 million in an instant so I'm not sure how a bank makes him way more money than he already has. I don't know that marijuana money is that great yet. It's not legal at the federal level so he's kind of skipping ahead. Also, he's been chasing a bank for a year now but didn't have a specific strategy until Mason told him -- they are part of the con -- about MJ money? Kind of suggests that Axe flies by the seat of his pants and gets lucky most of the times. Of course it's so obvious Chuck and Prince are trying to bait him, the way they're hanging out. I thought the egg scene was ridiculous, no dialog for a couple of minutes or however long it was. Point is that Chuck and Prince are best buds now, more than just allies with a common enemy? Thing is, they're never going to catch Axe until maybe the end of the series -- maybe not even then. So it's hard for the viewer to believe this scheme is going to succeed where all the previous schemes have failed. It may seem like they're building towards some climax where Axe is brought down but the more likely outcome is that Prince will get broken and will be off the show long before Axe. It'll probably be something like Rian telling Axe that Taylor oversold the marijuana strategy -- it's suppose to be red light but Taylor told Axe it was yellow light. Or Lauren turning on Taylor after they broke off their relationship and Lauren was going to move out of Taylor's place. Wags' date is suppose to be comic relief for the episode. He keeps getting cockblocked and he's finally had it so he bullies the Indian guy and the date finds that an aphrodisiac, punching down on a beta as she calls him. Otherwise, we're suppose to believe Wags has this incredible charm that he attracts these beautiful women younger than his own daughter when it's more likely his fat wallet. Wendy is going to be paying alimony because she makes so much more than Chuck but Chuck demands $25 million so Wendy borrows from Axe and believes she's the only one he won't screw over. She's flattered that Bobby sabotaged her relationship with "dime-store Pollock" and says she never allowed herself to think of them being together. Give me a break. He's been rewarding her like crazy for years. As soon as she separated from Chuck and he was already divorced from Lara, they would have been fucking like rabbits. She knows everything about Axe, what he's done. Obviously she's into moral compromise or is willing to take a lot of money to enable him. All of a sudden, after almost 5 full seasons, she's thinking for the first time that they could be a couple?

I don’t understand why they’re friends with that couple. Both are belligerently proud of the open marriage and talk up their affairs. What do Jon and Mira say, “good for you” for leading a lifestyle which neither of them have opted to pursue? or are they going to show that they’ve cheated or have been tempted to cheat? She would be reluctant to have another child because it could derail her career. He may be unwilling to assume a greater burden for raising their children. He kept saying “wow” several times, maybe because he didn’t want to articulate his doubts? But they both seem to have problems with their decision and it may be more due to doubts about the marriage than her work or his child raising role. Seems like until they sat down for the interview, they hadn’t confronted some ambivalence they may have felt about their marriage. Now their perceptions are being challenged by that chaotic couple and this pregnancy. Are pregnancies the points at which couples decide whether to double down or fold if they have misgivings about the marriage? Not for many people because people divorce after they have several children. Even if they had doubts about staying with their spouses, many people still seem to go ahead with having more children. But still not clear if this pregnancy is leading to a crisis in the marriage or if they decide to end the pregnancy because one or both of them have doubts.

OK watched the second episode. I can't believe they gave custody of the girls to their psycho father after he got out of prison for beating and raping their mother while they were in the same apartment. The mother was wrecked, couldn't take care of them. So they hand the girls to the one who caused them trauma? I guess that's why they are going to cover so much of their childhood, because the father is still around long after they've gone to live with the foster parents, who may also have caused some of Laetitia's unhappiness. They seem to be headed for how her messed up upbringing made her unhappy -- she was cutting herself -- and more vulnerable to a predator like Meilhon. They're starting to fill in the personality of Touchais, the main investigator who vows that he will be 24/7 on the site, even though he has a wife and two young children.

I think if her toddlers were seen in the background while she was streaming her gaming sessions, whatever brand she has in that world would be damaged and possibly her earning prospects. That is why she needs a room where she can close the door. Plus because of the time zone difference, she might be doing her games streaming thing when her husband and kids are asleep.

I have to catch up. Not getting much coverage, only two top critics tracked in RT but both rave reviews it appears, from the NY Times and WSJ.

Yeah the date night thing was probably some production assistants having to go get that stuff and set it up.

I don't think she's doing Esports. I think it's called Twitch, where she streams herself playing games and enough people watch her to make money.

So this blogger doesn't believe there is a statistically significant increased risk for obese people of dying from covid than people with healthy weight. https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2021/09/covid-and-the-moral-panic-over-obesity

I don't think it's a sign of immaturity that he wants lowest-maintenance possible. Who wants to spend their weekends doing yard work? Sure he likes his toys but presumably they've saved enough that they don't have to be in a hurry to work again.

They chose Korea over returning to the US and were willing to put their younger child into a local school rather than an international school. But maybe it’s better for his pilot career to be in Korea. They can’t speak the language or know how to take the subway but there must be some other base families to socialize with. I can’t imagine twitch or whatever game streaming she’s doing is that sustainable. She is pretty but how long will young men pay to watch her play games when they find out she’s the mother of two young boys? 4 bedroom apt for $1700 is so much cheaper than most places in the US though. The Australian couple, I guess boat and lower rent means he doesn’t have to get a job. They named their daughter after some clam, not Longstocking. Also that island seems like another vacation destination, like Fiji apparently is to Aussies. They must have made money because he also has a red Mustang (with the drivers seat on the right!) and a 4x4 so he has a lot of toys.

Hmm, does the podcast have more juicy material than Out for Blood, the HBO doc?

OTOH, warmer weather lets them do more challenging daily challenges, like a lot in the water. Or all of them going through the mud. Or when they were throwing stuff from the helicopter, windy cold weather might not have permitted that.

So frozen pizzas are apparently a staple in the Challenge house. No catered buffets for you! Well if they’re going to carb load, they might as well do more endurance missions. Between daily challenges and eliminations and the filmed club outings, the Challengers eat frozen pizza, argue, hook up and then wait for the blinking lights, like some place out of a dystopian society with regimented days, limited food options and interminable waiting for the next purge.

Wouldn’t they call it a villa in Spain? Chalet I think of the Alps. She calls in her new BFF since she’s lived in the area for years and promptly ignores her advice. What does she do from her seaside home? Bikes instead of surf or do yoga in the beach. Wonder if in peak tourist season the area gets noisy.

Yeah the daily seemed better than it turned out to be. Would have been much better if they had to race through some obstacle course on those tractor trailers instead. I would say the pizza fight was scripted, as well as this whole BB rift, until one of them swung, which should be automatic DQ but who knows, there are no set, written rules. Whatever the rules are they’re fluid. They may want to milk this feud longer because there isn’t much else drama after they got rid of Kelz so quickly, because he was so entertaining when he took down Josh.

I wasn't that into Fleetwoot Mac in their heyday nor am I familiar with their personal history. But there's a long interview on The Watch podcast between Andy Greenwald and Buckingham. https://www.theringer.com/2021/9/13/22672664/the-hawkeye-trailer-y-the-last-man-and-a-conversation-with-lindsey-buckingham What seems interesting is that Buckingham is the main creative force in the band, writes most of the songs and helped others, such as Nicks herself, put together demos of songs they write because he seems to be most adept at instruments and studio equipment. Yet he was fired so he had to have done something horrific? Or does Nicks still have that clout as the front-person for the band, even after all these years? The band has been around for 43 years! And apparently they still generate big revenues when they tour? Because Buckingham wants to do music outside the strictures of FM but his solo projects don't bring in the revenues that a FM tour does. Interesting anecdote, that Tusk, which apparently was something Buckingham pushed, "only" sold 5 million albums, prompting Mick Fleetwood to say they won't do that kind of project again, because their previous album sales were more in the range of 16 million. I enjoy a lot of the old music but would never go to see these seniors tour musicians. Seems like the only reason for these tours is to make money, feeding off nostalgia of Baby Boomers who now have a lot of money. But the artists no longer have anything to say, just playing their old hits, which no longer mean the same things to them as when they originally performed them 30-40 years ago. Yeah Buckingham basically implied in the interview that Nicks didn't want him in the band because he went on to marry and have children, kind of lived happily after their split and that fact was something Nicks couldn't endure.